Thread cutter and holder.



L M MAJORS.

THREAD CUTTER AND HOLDER.

APPLICATION FLLED JUNE 11, 1911;

1,266,032. I Patented Mayl l, 1918.

I r i I Hi UNITED STATES PATE T ornicin JAMES M. MAJ OBS, 0F OTTUMWA,,IOWA.

THREAD CUTTER AND HOLDER.

Application filed June 11, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs M. MAJORS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ottumwa, in the county of Wapello and State of Iowa, have invented a new and usefulThread Cutter and Holder, of which the following is the specification.

' The object of my invention is to provide athread cutter and holder of simple, durable and inexpensiveconstruction.

A further object of my invention is to provide a standard having pins mounted thereon forholding a series of spools and also provided with means for so guiding and retaining the thread from each spool that the'loose end of the thread will not become having .fixed thereon two vertical, upwardly unintentionally unwound or become tangled. A' further object of my invention is to provide such a thread retaining and guiding means that the thread may be pulled 011' the spool in any desired amount and then passed across the cutting edge, so that it will be imnecessary to use scissors or break the threadwhen it is desired to use the thread off the spool.

- A further object of my invention is to so arrange the thread guide and retaining means that at the time it is drawn across the cutting edge to separate part of the thread from the remaining thread on the spool, the

. movement of the. thread to position where it may be out on the cutting edge automatically places the'thread under tension and looks it from movement in the thread guide means.

'lVith these' and other objects in view, my invention further consists inthe construction, arrangement and combination of the various partsof the device whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter morefully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,- in which:

/ Figure lshows a top or plan View of my improved thread cutterand holder.

Fig.2shows an end elevation. r

Fig. 3-shows a sid e'elevation.

Fig. at shows a vertical, sectional, detailed view taken on the line 41 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 shows fied'fornnand 1 I Fig. 6 shows a side elevation OFfhe f ofdevicedisclo'sed in Fig. 5. v

Referring 130 the accompanying drawings, I 'have used the numerallO to indicategenerallya base composed of suitable material Specification of Letters Patent.

a top 'or plan View of a modi-,

Serial No. 174,132.

extending spaced pins 11 adapted to have spools 12 placed thereon. It will be understood that the pins 11 are of such size that they may be loosely received in the longitudinal openings usually provided with thread spools, so that the spools may rotate easily on these pins. A third pin 13 is fixed'in the base 10 at a point equally distant from each of the pins 11 and also spaced somewhat from a line extending through the two pins 11. A sleeve 14 of approximately a third the length of the average spool is placed on the pin 13 adjacent to the base. The pin 13, however, may be provided with an annular shoulder to correspond with the shoulder formed by the upper edge of the sleeve 14, if it should be so desired.

My improved thread guide and retaining device is intended to be pivotally mounted on the pin 13 and supported by the shoulder formed by the upper edge of the member 14. It consists of two pieces of sheet metal, which are riveted together intermediate of their ends at 15 and spread apart between the rivets to form a bearing 16 adapted toreceive the pin 13. The ends of the arms, which extend toward the spools are separated at 17 and extend at angles to each other thereby forming a tension or thread locking device. The opposite ends of these pieces are also separated and extend at angles to each other at 18* thereby forming the thread guide and cutting portion of my de-- vice. These latter ends when being formed are stamped out so that there are two strips 18 and 19 extending from the body of the strip at right angles to each other. The strip 18 is then bent back upon itself to form the loop 20 and the strip'19 is bent back upon itself to form the loop 21. By this construction it' may be seen that an efficient thread guide'is made from a single piece of material and in this case is formed from the same piece of material as the balance of the guide and retaining device. The upper Patented May 14, 1918.

proved thread cutter andholder,spools of thread are placed upon the pins 11 and thread-from each of them is passed through the'thread guide device. This is accomplished by pulling the thread from the spool to position above and at, the left of the upper end of the strip 18 as shown in Fig. 4 and then by bringing the thread around said upper end until it may be passed down past the end of the strip 19 and then pulled in a direction directly away from the spool. These respective movements bring the thread to position where it slides through the loop 20 below the loop 21, so that it is retained from lateral movement out of the guide. It will be seen that this construction obviates the necessity of threading the end of the thread through a hole and also presents a very efiicient and quick thread guide. Assuming that the thread is strung as described, there will be an end 23 from each spool, which will be hanging from the end of the thread guide. If it. is desired to remove a piece of thread of a certain length from the spool 12, the thread is pulled through the guides until a desired amount has been pulled out of the guide and then the end 23 is pulled over to position where it. may be brought across the cutting edge 22 on the opposite arm 18. It will be seen that as soon as the end 23 is pulled to position where it may be passed across the cutting edge 22 on the other arm 18 the friction of the thread through the thread guide will be sufficient to cause the parts to move upon the pin 13, which will bring the extension 17 against the surface of the thread of the spool from which the end 23 has been pulled. Bringing the end 17 against the spool locks the spool from movement and thereby prevents more thread from sliding through the guide device so that the part of the end 23 Which is above the cutting edge 22 may be readily cut off. After the cut has been made there will be enough of the end 23 remaining to give sufficient room for gripping it when it is desired to again take thread from the spool.

In Figs. 5 and 6, I have shown an alternate form of my device wherein a plate 2% is secured to the base 10 and pins 11, which support the spools, are secured to the plate 24:. A pivot pin 13 is also secured to the plate 24: and supports the thread guide and retaining means. This form of device uses what I have termed a thread look as distinguished from a spool lock, which is shown in the other form of my device for retaining the thread in position at the time it is passed across the cutting edge. The thread lock is accomplished by bending one corner of the plate 24: up to a vertical position, so that a vertical plate 25 is formed thereby. The plate 25 has a thread opening therein at 26 through which thread from one or more spools may be passed. After the thread leaves the opening 26, it is passed around the pin 13 and then through thread guides 27 and 28, which are similar to the thread guides previously described. The arms 29 and: 30, which support the guides 27 and 28, are secured to a sleeve 31, which is pivotally mounted on the pin 13 and a lateral extension 32 extends at right angles to the arms 29 and 30 from the sleeve 31. The vertical plate 25 is also provided with a cutting edge 34-. In the practical use of this form of my device the end of the thread 33 is pulled out in any direction so that the parts will remain in the position shown in Fig. 5 until a desired amount of thread has been pulled through the guide. The end 33 is then pulled to position where it will pass over the cutting edge 34. Movement of the thread to this position will cause the frictional engagement of the thread with the thread guide 28, which will in turn move the arm 30 upon its pivot thereby moving the sleeve 31 and causing,

the extension 32 to swing to position where its outer edge will engage the surface of the plate 25. As the thread from the spool passes between this extension 32 and the plate 25, it will be seen that as soon as the extension 32 reaches a position adjacent to the plate 25, its edge will engage the thread, thereby locking the latter from further movement. As soon as this occurs, the thread 33 is then pulled down over the cutting edge 34: and severed. The operation of the thread member-with either spool is exactly the same so it is not believed here necessary to distinguish between the operations relative to the other spool.

It will be seen that by the use of my i1nproved thread cutter and holder the spools of thread may always be kept upon a single base with the thread ends in a retaining guide, so that there is little danger of the ends from the spools becoming unwound and tangling together. the thread lock and spool lock, which are provided in the two forms of my device are each arranged to operate automatically when the thread is pulled to position where it may be cut, so that as soon as a pr'edeter mined amount of thread has been removed from the spool a single movement of one hand severs that part of the thread from that on the spool without having to reach for a pair of scissors or the like. It will also be seen that I have provided an efiicient thread guide, which may be cheaply formed from a single piece of metal and wherein it is unnecessary to thread the ends of the thread through a hole and yet retains the thread as perfectly as though it were passed through a hole. The movements neeessaryto sever the piece of thread from this device are those which come naturally to the operator and do not require any complicated thought as the operator need only pull the thread out straight until he has secured a desired amount and then pull the thread at an angle to the original direction. noted that there are 110 spring parts inthis It will also be seen that It will also be.

device, so that there is no jerking on the thread, which would tend to pull it out of the thread guide every time a piece of thread is removed.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the class described, a support, a vertical pin having one end fixed in the support, an arm pivotally mounted on said pin, a thread guide formed at the free end of said arm and adapted to permit thread to slide freely therethrough when pulled in one direction and to retard the movement of thread therethrough when the thread is pulled in another direction sufliciently to move the arm upon its pivot,

means operatively connected with said arm adapted to limit its movement caused by pulling the thread in the last described direction and to also look the thread from movement in one direction through the guide when the arm reaches its limit, and a second edge disposed adjacent to the thread guide in 2. In a device of the class described, a base, a pair of spools mounted thereon in position spaced from each other, an arm pivoted intermediate of its ends to said base, a thread guide formed at one end of said arm adapted to permit free movement of thread therethrough in one direction and to frictionally engage said thread when pulled therefrom in another direction, a stop device secured to said base in the path of travel of the other end of said movable arm, a second thread guide secured to said base adapted to cause the thread to travel between said stop and the cutting end of said arm when the thread is pulled through the first described guide, a blade secured to the base in position spaced from the first described guide whereby pulling the thread through the first described guide to position where it may be cut on said blade moves the movable arm to position where the stop and coacting part of the arm engage the adj acent portion of the thread to lock it from movement.

Des Moines, Iowa, May 25, 1917.

JAMES M. MAJ ORS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

